


Fragments

by C_Sharpe



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Background Relationships, Cosplay, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Juvenile Humor, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peer Pressure, Post-Season/Series 02, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Scary Movies, Schadenfreude, Slice of Life, Soda has consequences, kids being kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-05-13 10:12:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14746880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_Sharpe/pseuds/C_Sharpe
Summary: A series of loosely connected one shot/vignette/scene type things of the Party and their extended family when not dealing with horrifying threats and imminent danger.





	1. Knock Knock

**Author's Note:**

> Just what it says on the tin. First chapter, El attempts a practical joke. She may take the term a bit too literally.

Lucas and Will were seated on the floor in front of Will’s bed, currently playing their turn on the Atari. Dustin watched with interest, eager for his shot at playing winner. El had watched earlier, but had wandered off after a few rounds. She was capable of playing the game, but her skills weren’t up to the competitive levels of the others. Mike and Max were both having family dinners this evening. For Mike, that meant dressing up in a collared shirt and listening to awkward small talk at a niceish restaurant. For Max, that meant grit teeth and white knuckles as her family tried to resemble normal nuclear family for a night rather than the volatile nuclear reactor they actually were. Each had protested with equal fervor, and each had been shut down with equal lack of interest. Their friends would still be there tomorrow. The remaining four party members had converged on the Byers’ house, El first, dropped off by Hopper on his way to work, then Lucas on his bike, and finally Dustin, riding with Steve on his way back from the library.

 

Steve and Jonathan sat at the table, the latter reading over the most recent draft of Steve’s college application essay. That was the deal after all. __Steve had just pulled up, and sent Dustin up the walk. Jonathan rushed to Steve’s window, “Hey man. Why don’t you come in for a bit. Have a… drink or something.” Steve shook his head. “Sorry, I gotta get these applications done, man. Maybe next time.” Steve said. “Please stay.” Jonathan whispered. Steve pushed his sunglasses up and met Jonathan’s gaze. “Don’t leave me alone with four of them. You know what they’re capable of.” Steve wanted to laugh, but he knew the cyclones of chaos any group of two or more of these kids could generate. “You’re helping me write these.” Steve said. “Anything, just stay” Jonathan sighed with relief.__

 

As Lucas passed his joystick to Dustin, he noticed El scurry by the open door. “Guys, what’s El doing?” He asked. Dustin looked up at Will’s bed as if he expected her to still be there. “I didn’t even see her leave.” He said. Just as they stood up to go and see where she’d gone, she bustled back into the room, a plastic shopping bag full of something bouncing around as she jumped up on to the bed to grab a thin book they hadn’t noticed resting on the pillow. She turned to leave again. “Whoa. Hey El. What’re you doing?” Lucas asked. She turned to him and said “Joking. One minute.” She dashed from the room, and the boys got up to follow. They peeked around the door in time to see her slip out the back door. They stared for a minute before moving slowly to follow.

 

El burst back in to the hall, and hurried towards the kitchen. “El, what’s…” Will started, before El motioned for them to hide around the corner. “Shush.” she said, putting a finger to her lips. She glared towards the front door. A sharp, insistent knock echoed through the house. In the kitchen, Jonathan and Steve stopped working and looked up. “Hey Will? If you guys ordered pizza, you’d better have money for it. I don’t have any on me.” Jonathon yelled. El motioned for Will to answer. He was confused, but did so. “We didn’t call anyone!” He yelled back.

 

Jonathon walked to the door. “Hello?” he said, slowly, cautiously opening the door. The Lab was gone, but strange unexpected guests still weren’t on anyone’s list of favorite things. No one was outside. He was about to close the door when he noticed something out of place. Bending down, he picked up the object. “Who was it?” Steve asked. “No one was there. But… there was a banana on the welcome mat?” Jonathan answered. “What the fuck? Why?” Steve asked, laughing a bit. Jonathan shrugged, put the banana on the counter and returned to proofing Steve’s essay.

 

Dustin, Lucas and Will stared after El as she trotted into Will’s room. “So, what was that exactly?” Dustin asked. “Don’t worry. It’s going to be good.” El said knowingly. The boys shrugged. “You want to get back in the game?” Will asked. El checked her watch. “Yes. I have time.” She scooted to the edge of Will’s bed and grabbed a joystick. “I guess I got next with the weirdo.” Lucas said.

 

After about fifteen minutes had passed, El ran from the room again. Again there was a persistent knock on the front door followed by indistinct conversation and Steve’s loud question of, “Guys, whats with the bananas?” El came back, dabbing at her nose. Lucas had had enough.

 

“Okay, what is your deal? Spill it.” Lucas asked. El looked at the expectant faces around her and nodded. She pulled a small book from her overalls pocket. She held it out.

 

“Oh, I gave her that. You like it?” Dustin asked, gesturing to the copy of “1001 Hilarious Jokes” in El’s hands. She opened the book to a dogeared page in the middle, and smiled proudly at the boys.

 

Will lit up. “Ha, now I get what you’re doing!” He said.

 

“It’s a good joke.” El said, smiling.

 

“But they’re getting pretty mad. We need to keep them on the line. This punchline is too important to miss out on.” Dustin said. Her smile switched into a look of focused determination. The boys looked at each other and nodded.

 

“Huddle up.” Lucas said, gathering all of them into a group.

 

Five minutes later found them in the hall. Will moved into the kitchen to inquire about dinner, and poke his nose into Steve’s application process. The rest moved as silently as they could around the house.

 

There was another knock at the door. Will looked over. “I got it” he said, hopping up to answer the door. Jonathan was about to say something when Will came back in. “Banana” Will said with a shrug, dropping it on the table and returning to his room. Steve and Jonathan gave each other a look, when a knock came from the cabinet in the living room.

 

“Got it” Dustin said, padding by the bewildered teens. He opened the cabinet, and on his way back tossed something at Steve. “Banana.”

 

“Seriously, wh-” Jonathan started to say, but was cut off by a knock from inside the fridge. Lucas hopped into the kitchen, almost as though he was waiting just out of sight. “Who’s there?” he said, opening the door. “Oh, banana.” He said, tossing the fruit on the table as he walked out.

 

“It’s creepy when you all sync up like this you know!” Steve yelled down the hall.

 

A very sharp and short knock from the front door. Jonathan and Steve sighed. The knock came again.The three boys were just outside the kitchen. “Are you guys going to answer that?” Dustin asked.

 

Jonathan stood, glaring at the boys, and walked to the door. He took a deep breath, counted to ten in his head, and opened it. Steve peeked along with the boys, having joined them with the intention of beating their dumbasses if a bomb exploded or pies started flying in through the door.

 

 Standing there, on the other side of the door, pretty and innocent as could be, was one Jane “El” Hopper. Before Jonathan could say a word she silently raised her hands in offering. In her hands was an orange. As he reached out to take the orange he asked “Ok, come on, what is …”

 

“ORANGE you glad it isn’t a banana?” El said, grin growing wider with each syllable.

 

Jonathan’s eyes went wide. “You have got to be shitting me.” He said. Steve struggled his way over to his chair in the kitchen like he’d been physically struck, and collapsed into it, hands over his eyes. “Oh Jesus. A knock knock joke. We just fell for a godamn knock knock joke. When did I get so lame?!” He tried to sound upset but his shoulders were quaking with laughter. The boys were laughing so hard they had to hold one another upright. El strutted into the house past the still shocked Jonathan and received a round of high fives.

 

“All hail!” Dustin announced, in his best Bard voice, “The lady Jane of jests and japes, tales will be told of this day!”

 

“I don’t know Dustin. I don’t think they found her joke __A-Peeling__!” Will called out.

 

“Oh God, they’re doing puns now. You guys are horrible!” Steve called, prompting a fresh wave of laughs.

 

“I don’t know about them, but I think that was pretty EL-Larious” Lucas added on. That had El joining in on the laughing fit now. Steve had given in, but Jonathan was keeping his cool, refusing to let the contagious good humor get to him.

 

“Stop, stop, I’m gonna pee, seriously!” Will managed to choke out between laughs. Even Jonathan couldn’t maintain his composure after that.  


	2. Fanatic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is silly. Silly, but true to life, at least in my experience. In the days before the internet, when you were a fan of something and wanted to get more involved in it, you had to get creative. I am guilty of doing most of these things in my youth. I was a bit younger than El is in this story, but I feel between her isolated upbringing and the fact that her best friends are nerds of the highest order, she would be particularly susceptible to the lure of dress up and pretend.

Raiders

Jim Hopper wasn’t a morning person. His mother couldn’t change that, the army couldn’t change that, and Flo, bless her, wasn’t going to change that. Which is why he was running late, even though it was _too damn early _.__  He heard El thumping around, so assumed she was awake. It sounded like she was talking, so she was either on that damn little radio already or just talking to herself. Neither would be all that unusual. He grabbed cereal (he thought) and a bowl. He thought he may be missing a few ingredients for breakfast, but for the life of him couldn’t imagine what they could be. El would figure it out. He moved to the door to grab is hat and coat, and found nothing hanging there but his holster and pistol. He blinked, and looked around the cabin. There weren’t a whole lot of places for them to hide. He trudged over to the bedroom door and knocked.

 

“’Ey kid. You up? Id’jou see where I left my coat?” He wiped a hand over his face. Mysteries needed to wait until at least nine in his opinion. Even small ones.

 

“Nope!” Her voice called through the door. Not a shock, he guessed. She’d been home after him for once. First trip to the movie theater with her friends. He’d been a nervous wreck all night waiting for her. Surprised she was already awake, considering how hyper she’d been on coming in.

 

“You dressed? I’m gonna take a look for my hat.” He said. He pushed open the door despite her pleas of “Wait No Don’t” and found El standing on her bed, still in her pjs, his jacket and hat on, with one of his belts in her hand like a whip, frozen in the middle of whatever scene she was recreating. Jim blinked slowly.

 

“Saw Indiana Jones last night?” Jim said. El was silent in her embarrassment. He grabbed the hat off her head and held out his hand. She bashfully shed his jacket and passed it over. “You can have them back when I get home. Don’t roll any big rocks on the cabin.”

 

Busters

Max and Lucas were the last to arrive to the Byers house this evening. They were most certainly not on a date, of any sort. It just so happened both of them had other things to do after school that day. They had prepared themselves for teasing and admonishments for their lateness. They hadn’t prepared for… this.

 

A sheet with angry looking eyes drawn on it whipped by at a startling speed and proceeded to twist upwards towards the ceiling and hover there with slight menace.

 

“It’s in here now!” Mike yelled, Ghostbuster costume and proton pack on as he rounded the corner. He was followed by Will, costumeless, but holding Dustin’s trap, Dustin himself in full regalia, and El wearing what must be Will’s costume and proton pack. There was a slightly bloodied tissue twisted up and stuffed into her nose.

 

“We have it cornered!” Dustin yelled.

 

“Get the trap ready Will!” Mike hollered.

 

“On it!” Will exclaimed, kneeling down, and sliding the trap across the floor.

 

“Don’t cross the streams!” El yelled, joining in with the boys in making the “pwizzzh” noise of their proton streams.

 

The “ghost” was drawn steadily down toward the trap when Will hit the switch and snapped more or less half of the ghost inside. The gang cheered, doing a jumping group hug before they noticed Max and Lucas standing inside the door.

 

“What the…” Lucas started. “Hell is this?” Max finished.

 

“Oh hey. You made it.” Mike said, out of breath but all smiles.

 

“We showed El Ghostbusters. You missed it.” Dustin added.

 

“Yeah. No shit.” Max said.

 

“Lucas, run home and grab your gear. I’m going to make a better ghost.” Will said, gathering the sheet. “You okay to do that again El?”

 

“Just need a snack break. Doing the ghost is easy.” El looked at the new arrivals. “Go! Get Lucas’ stuff, we have a ghost to bust.”

 

Vice

 

Mike shoveled the composition books and notepads into his bag. He only had a few minutes until Steve (ugh) arrived with El to take them over to Will’s. He’d warmed up to Steve a bit in the past few months, but he’d much rather have Jonathan, or Nancy, or Mrs. Byers, or even Hopper supervise tutoring. Steve loved to make little comments. “ _You teaching her English or French little Wheeler?_ ” or “ _I don’t hear pencils, you’re here to study books, not each other!_ ” It was obnoxious. He knew how important it was to get El ready for school, he could keep focused. Besides, Will was usually right there, he took over with math once Mike finished with English, so they wouldn’t do anything like that anyway. He heard the horn, and rushed down to the door. “Going to Will’s! See you later!” He called, not pausing to see if anyone in the house heard him. Barreling out the door, he was ready to dash all the way to the car and get started on his precious and too brief El time, but skidded to a stop about six feet short as he beheld the scene presented in the street in front of his house.

 

Steve looked mostly normal, if dressed up a little too much for babysitting. He was leaning on the passenger side door, wearing a white sport coat and matching pants over a turquoise shirt with the collar fully popped, and the sleeves of both rolled up to the elbow. His face was dominated by large, fancy sunglasses.

 

Next to him, also leaning on the car, hands in her pockets, was El. She was wearing an ill fitting blue suit jacket with a matching tie. Her hair looked different. Curlier and a little shiny. Permed? Mike didn’t know much about hair styling. She still managed to look good in the outfit, as strange as it was. Then again, Mike may be slightly biased.

 

“Tubbs, look alive!” Steve called out, pointing his fingers at Mike like a gun.

 

“Freeze, Miami Vice!” El called out in a deep, put on voice, mimicking Steve's movement. Mike raised his hands in surrender. El walked up to him and grabbed his bag off his shoulder. She looked in it for a moment and called out “He’s clean Crockett!” She grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the car. “Hi Mike.” She said in her normal voice, as he fell into rhythm walking beside her.

 

“So, you got into Miami Vice?” Mike asked.

 

“Steve likes it too! Brought me some clothes so we could do Crockett and Tubbs.” She explained enthusiastically. “Have you ever been in a speedboat? Crockett has a speedboat on the show. I want to do that when I can go out for real. Are there speedboats in Hawkins?” Mike smiled wide and listened, always glad to see her this excited by something. God help him, he’d buy her a boat if he could. It had to be easier than getting her the talking car she wanted last week, at the very least.

 

Jedi

 

Hopper trudged into the cabin with a heavy sigh. Tossing his jacket and hat on the rack by the door, he immediately sunk into the couch. It’d been a hell of a day. Grown goddamn men arguing about who owned the three feet of land between their farms. Managed to get city hall involved. Pains in the ass.  

 

“Kid? I know you’re home, Joyce called me when Jon dropped you off.” Hopper called into the cabin, still rubbing the heels of his hands into his tired eyes. “Did Joyce feed you? I’m putting something on for myself, so if you haven’t eaten I’ll make us both dinner.” He stood from the couch, ignoring the protests of his knees, and walked toward the kitchen. He jumped a bit when he found a small dark shape was waiting for him in the kitchen. He settled after a second, realizing it was, once again, just El. She could be like a cat when she wanted to be. He briefly entertained the notion of putting a bell on her, before the took in her latest fashion experiment. She had a faded terry cloth robe pulled over her head, and the small silver flashlight (the one he usually left on top of the fuse-box, he realized) tucked in the cloth belt.

 

“Oh, there you are. So what do you want? I’ve still got some of that casserole Mike’s mom gave us. That good with you?” Jim asked.

 

“I want peanut butter and jelly eggo sandwiches.” She said, somewhat monotone and making a small waving motion with her hand.

 

“No, that’s not dinner.” Jim replied simply. They’d had this discussion before.

 

“Peanut butter and jelly eggos _are_ an acceptable dinner.” She said waving her hand in his direction a bit more obviously.

 

“No, they aren’t.” Hopper replied, pulling the foil covered dish from the fridge.

 

“They _are_.” She said, waving her hand again.

 

“They showed you Star Wars today, huh.” He said, pulling the foil off and turning the knob to heat the oven.

 

“I am a Jedi.” El said.

 

“Yeah, I guess you pretty much are. Problem is, I’m the emperor of the cabin. And in this evil cabin empire, dinners have protein and vegetables.” Hopper replied, sliding the dish onto the oven rack. El simply grumbled under her breath and started to stomp away. “Dinner’ll be ready in about 20 minutes, young Starwalker!” He yelled after her.

 

“It’s Skywalker! Ugh!” She called back from her room before heaving herself face first onto her bed with the force which can only be mustered by an exasperated teen.


	3. Regrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mood whiplash. This one is pretty dark. You have been warned.

The nurse was saying something again. She was generally a pleasant woman, and likely meant to be comforting, but the sentiment was lost in the haze of tooth gritting pain that encompassed his senses as she assisted him into the one of the softer armchairs in the common area. He did his best not to let the pain show on his face as he nodded her off. How he _ached_. There were still two more surgeries scheduled before his recovery could truly even be said to begin. The beast hadn’t finished the job, but it had made a respectable go of it. Two crushed vertebrae, a ruined hip joint, one shattered femur and both broken tibiae, nerve damage in his right arm and hand, to say nothing of deep lacerations across his face and chest. He’d been given a slightly better than sixty percent chance of recovering some measure of independent, albeit limited, mobility once all the surgeries were finished. He turned his head toward the clock, bringing it into view of his good eye. Two and a half hours until his fate was decided.

 

He was almost looking forward to it. Being sentenced to life in prison had to at least involve some measure of adult conversation. Conversation was lacking in his life almost entirely at this point. He hadn’t realized until this all happened how utterly alone he was. His coworkers were either dead or cursed ever meeting him. He’d never married, never had children, and his own parents were long buried. His last actual friend had been his roommate from undergrad, and for the life of him he couldn’t even remember the man’s name.

 

All but one of his visitors had been there in an official capacity of some sort. His temporary removal as project head being made permanent. __“_ Your injuries being as severe as they are, they’re handing the lab over to Owens”._ Being stripped of his position completely, losing his pension and even his license to practice. _“Owens has turned over a large quantity of materials you failed to disclose. It paints quite a picture. Your care will continue to be covered, but it doesn’t look good. If you’re lucky, they won’t press charges.”_  The dubious honor of being personally dressed down by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. _“Millions of dollars, dozens of casualties, a massive cover up, and all you have to show for two and a half decade's work is a doorway to hell we can’t close smack in the middle of the American heartland? Am I understanding this correctly?”_  The charges being leveled against him once the Holland girl’s death was made public. _“Over a hundred dead at this point from your mess. Even the hole you’ve dug for yourself isn’t deep enough to bury all those bodies. Someone is going to have to answer for this.”_  

 

In fact, the closest thing to a ”friendly” visit he’d received had been Ray Carroll, delivering a warning a month and a half prior. How “Eight and the Ives girl” had come to him in the night. Their threats. How he’d let slip that their “Papa” was still alive. He’d gone on, how he’d been lucky to survive, even if he now realized he didn’t deserve it. How the girls would likely find him soon, surely murder him. The implied threat to his own life barely registered. It would almost be a mercy at this point. He’d been more caught off guard by the surge of genuine relief he’d felt at the confirmation of subject 011’s survival.

 

He had tried to muster hatred for her after it all happened. It was, however directly or indirectly, her fault he’d ended up here. He’d never been able to manage it with any conviction. He _missed_ her. During this long period of forced introspection, he’d realized that the closest thing he’d had in his adult life to an actual human relationship had been with that child. A child he’d stolen straight from her mother’s womb and raised as an inhuman weapon of war. That he'd treated as nothing more than a tool for his work, a powerful and endlessly fascinating specimen to study. At the time, he’d even found the “Papa” moniker irritating, a necessary annoyance in order to build trust and maintain control. How he longed for anyone, now, to address him with a tenth of the affection with which she’d said "Papa". He wasn’t wholly ignorant of how monstrous that made him. She’d known. She’d been out of his care for a week and she had run from him straight into the skinny arms of some prepubescent ham-radio hobbyist.

 

Nightmares had been constant companions ever since waking up in the hospital. Any night where sleep wasn’t a dreamless, drug induced respite from pain was guaranteed to be filled with visions of that faceless horror lunging for him, or sometimes even worse, visions of his own disfigured, half blind face staring back at him from the mirror (something he avoided during his waking hours). Those dreams shocked him into the waking world, gasping and sweat soaked. Still, he almost preferred the straightforward nature of those dreams to the ones of _her_. Calling him Papa. Letting him hold her. Then, without fail, that simple declaration, so childish in its honesty. Bad. So earnestly straightforward. _Bad_. He’d been disappointed and annoyed at the time, sighing to himself and worrying about how difficult it would make the work going forward. Now he dreamed that word and it gutted him. She’d introduced him to the reality of his own utter lonesomeness, and it cut deeper than the foul claws and teeth of the beast. He had nothing now. Nothing and no one. His ruin was complete.  

 

Just under two hours now. He might not even need to trouble those girls to hunt him down. There was every chance those well suited government men would wheel him out of this place, and see to it he simply “disappeared.”It was a perfect way to ensure his silence, after all. He’d resorted to it himself, more than once. The alternative was spending his live as a disfigured, crippled old man in some hellish CIA gulag. He wasn’t sure which option frightened him more. He wished, in that moment, they were here. His girls. Even if it was to kill him. At least to them, his death would __mean__ something. Martin Brenner let the last of his pride fall away, and sobbed pitifully, waiting for his final judgement to come for him in an empty room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I very much want this to be how Brenner's story went. I want El to seek him out at some point and find him like this. I don't think the show will take this route, Matthew Modine is way too good in the role to not bring him back in some capacity. Still, this was fun. Silly teenage nonsense returns next time.


	4. The Show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Party is a self proclaimed democracy, but Mike seems to be the unofficial leader. It also seems that Mike would do anything for El. Which begs the question, who's really in charge here?

It was a chilly, damp, and positively dismal afternoon, the only thing this day had going for it was that it was Friday. The party shoved and shouldered their way into the Byers house after school in a messy clump of humanity. They shook themselves out of their sodden layers and dumped their school bags, chattering about about this and that. Dustin shook the water from his voluminous curls all over the rest, chilling droplets striking skin, floor, walls and ceiling without discrimination.

 

“Dustin! What is your problem?” Lucas called from behind his jacket, a futile attempt to protect himself.

 

“What? My hair’s wet. What’m I supposed to do?” Dustin asked as though it was completely normal.

 

“It’s gross out, everyone’s hair is wet!” Mike shouted.

 

“Use a towel? I mean, what are you, a dog?” Max added.

 

“I happen to know for a fact that dogs don’t make this much of a mess.” Will said, wiping the droplets as best he could from the wallpaper with his sleeve. Whatever excuse or retort Dustin would have made was cut off by the sound of stocking feet pounding down the hall in what sounded to be full sprint.

 

“El!” they shouted, almost in unison, as she launched herself towards them with abandon. Mike braced himself and opened his arms slightly in anticipation of the incoming embrace. When she stopped in front of them he folded his arms in an awkward attempt at nonchalance. She’d apparently been dropped off by Hopper earlier, and had been killing time with Jonathan until they arrived.

 

“We can see music!” El announced, practically vibrating on the spot.

 

“Um, what?” Lucas asked.

 

“Whoa, is that like, one of your powers now?” Will asked.

 

“Maybe she means sheet music.” Dustin helpfully supplied.

 

“Give her a second, jeez.” Mike said, placing himself a little protectively between El and the others.

 

“Jonathan saw The Clash! They did their music in Chicago! And he was there!” She said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “He says you can see them play the music right in front of you!”

 

“Oh, you meant concerts. You found out about concerts. Cool.” Max said.

 

“Oh yeah, he saw them a few years ago. He won a radio contest.” Will said, reminiscing to no one in particular. “He still wears the shirt from that night.”

 

“Have you ever been to one?” El asked, looking first to Mike, then to the others.

 

“I haven’t.” Mike admitted.

 

“A couple of little local shows back home, but never anyone who had like, a record.” Max admitted.

 

“My Mom takes me to see the Christmas Choir from the church every year, if that counts.” Dustin said.

 

“It doesn’t.” Lucas added.

 

“Jonathan always wants to take me, but they can be pretty expensive.” Will finished.

 

“Can we go to one?” El asked, looking to Mike again.

 

“Not right now.” Mike said. El deflated somewhat. “You still have to hide for a few months, so we can’t now. Maybe next summer?” Mike said, thinking.

 

“Next summer?” El asked, “That’s… more than a year. But we could go?”

 

“Yeah! We could all go together! Right guys?” Mike looked around.

 

“I don’t know, I mean, any of the good shows would be in Chicago.” Lucas said.

 

“And pretty expensive.” Dustin said.

 

“Not to mention there's no way the chief is going to let us drag El to Chicago.” Max added.

 

“It’d probably make more sense to wait until we could drive ourselves. We’d probably be working then, anyway.” Will said, stroking his chin in thought.

 

El looked crestfallen, each comment like a pin in one of the figurative balloons of her excitement. Mike got a singularly determined look on his face. The one those close to him could identify as the one that meant the party was possibly going to be risking death or dismemberment in the near future. He turned to address the party as though he were Patton rallying the troops rather than a lovesick middleschooler addressing soggy teens atop a pile of coats and sweaters.

 

“No, screw that. It’s not just El’s first concert, it’ll be the whole Party’s first concert. Its, like, a rite of passage! We can figure this out. We just need money and transportation, right?” Mike said. He turned and jabbed a finger in Lucas’ direction. “Lucas, you’re always doing those odd jobs for arcade money, do you think we could all do that?”

 

“Well, there are probably some things we can do. I bet if we asked around Loch Nora someone would pay us to clean up and paint fences and stuff.” Lucas admitted, stroking his chin in thought. “If all of us go together maybe we could do bigger jobs.”

 

“Right. We could cut down on arcade visits too.” Mike added. Max threw a “what the fuck” look in his direction. Mike wheeled on Dustin. “And Steve would take us to Chicago, right Dustin?”

 

“Uh. I guess? We could probably get him to take us if we see a band he likes. I don’t think he can take all of us though.” Dustin said. Mike paused, brows furrowed in concentration as worked on that little wrinkle. After a moment, a smile alighted on his face.

 

“Well, you guys said Hopper would never let us take El, right? If we’re going to Chicago, he’s probably going to insist on being chaperone, so I bet he can take some of us.” Mike said. Even El looked incredulous. That outcome seemed… far-fetched at best. Hopper was notorious for his caution regarding El.

 

“Yeah, but, like you said, he’ll never let us go” Max added. Everyone nodded along.

 

“I’ve got that figured out already. Will’s mom is always super cool about helping El do any of the stuff she’s missed out on. We just need to convince Will’s mom, then she’ll convince Hopper, and we’ll be all set.” Mike said, a smug air about him. There were nods and murmurs of ascent from all about the room.

 

“Wait, what? Why would that make any difference? What’s my mom gonna say that we couldn’t?” Will asked.

 

“Poor naive Will. You see, when a man and a woman-” Max started, patting Will’s shoulder.

 

“No-No-No, can’t hear you, not listening La La La!” Will clapped his hands over his ears, happier in his state of perpetual denial. A still smirking Max turned her attention back to Mike.

 

“How do we know what we’re seeing? I am _not_ giving up my arcade money to see some country music bullshit or something” Max asked.

 

“They always have a list of bands that are playing soon at the record store. We can probably ask the guy there too. He smells like a skunk all the time, but he knows his music.” Will responded, still shooting dirty looks in Max’s direction.  

 

“Okay! Lucas finds us jobs, Dustin convinces Steve, Will convinces his mom who in turn convinces Hopper, Max can go find out all the good bands coming around, and we all pool our arcade money. This is going to be awesome guys.” He looked triumphantly around the room. El practically jumped on Mike and wrapped her arms around him. They shared one of those now familiar lingering, lovey-dovey stares which had long since gotten old for the rest of the Party. The rest exchanged looks, betraying the fact that they suddenly felt like they'd been had.

 

“Typical. We do all the work, he gets the credit” Lucas muttered, shaking his head.

 

“Well, we haven’t actually done anything yet, so… no. Doesn’t change anything. Still unfair.” Dustin concluded. El ran around the room and gave everyone a crushing hug before addressing the group.

 

“Now we need Jonathan’s tapes. We need to agree on bands. We can do a vote!” She said, before turning and all but physically pushing the Party down to Jonathan’s room.

 

Will trailed behind slightly. “I’m still not really comfortable with my role in this. Or my _mom’s_. Guys!”

 

_Just about eighteen months later, on a much warmer Friday, the entire party (plus chaperones) found themselves screaming and cheering at The Smiths, live in Chicago. They were hoarse and half-deaf for about three days after, and broke for longer than that, but couldn’t have been happier about it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something unrelated to anything, that I haven't been able to work into a narrative of any sort. Hopper introduces El to shows like MASH and Cheers and such. El develops an intense distaste for Sam from Cheers, though she can't understand why. I personally think he looks like Brenner, for a minute during the first episode I actually though it was Ted Danson playing him.


	5. Bullies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I assume that Troy and James were a year older than the Party, and they weren't in season two because they'd moved on to High School. When the Party joins them, with a year to forget all the weirdness, they probably assumed they were just getting their favorite punching bags back. Some people may have something to say about that.

The first day of high school ended up being a somewhat cloudy but comfortably warm September day. Warm enough that Max was only wearing three layers (a long sleeved tee, plaid over-shirt, and light jacket) as she rushed out of the Camaro and skated the short distance to the bike rack. She was somewhat surprised to see Dustin and Will already waiting for her (considering Billy’s practically suicidal disregard for speed limits). Before she could even call out to her friends, two boys she didn’t recognize strode up to them purposefully. Dustin and Will didn’t look at all happy to see them, so Max put on a bit of extra speed to see what was up.

 

“... the other half of the freak-show today Toothless?” One boy was saying. “Even frog-face and midnight decide they were too cool for you?” Max’s eyebrows shot up. This would not stand. She closed the gap and kicked her board up into her hand.

 

“What’s up guys?” She asked. “Haven’t met your friends yet.” Dustin gave her a pleading look, Will just shook his head at her.

 

“What’s up red? Name’s Troy. You know these nerds?” He said, giving her a cocky smirk.

 

“Yeah. You know, I thought everyone back in California was wrong when I moved here. Everyone I’ve met so far are nerds.” Max said. Dustin and Will were taken aback.

 

“Oh yeah? You just haven’t met the right people” Troy drawled, trying his best at a seductive tone.

 

“I know right? Everyone I’ve met has been smart and way nice so far. I heard that Indiana was full of racist inbred dickheads, but I never even saw one until today. Feel’s like I should take a picture or something.” Max responded, smirking all the while. Dustin gasped and grabbed onto Will for support.

 

“What’d you say matchstick?!” Troy said, taking a threatening step towards Max.

 

“I said, leave my friends alone shit for brains!” Max said, getting right up into Troy’s face. “Or do you want everyone to see you get your ass kicked by a girl?”

 

Troy clenched his fists futilely, glaring into Max’s eyes. He turned to Dustin and Will. “You can’t hide behind your girlfriend forever!” He turned and stormed off, a confused looking James in tow.

 

“Yeah! You better run!” Max yelled after them.  

 

“You are awesome!” Will whispered with awe, while Dustin simultaneously squeaked “Are you crazy?”

 

Max just shook her head. “I just can’t leave you dweebs alone for a second, can I?” She mocked affectionately. She leaned against the rack, waving as they spotted Lucas pedaling onto school grounds, and waited for the last two members of the Party to arrive.

* * *

 

 

After their encounter with the freaks and their new bodyguard, Troy and James decided the best way to spend the remaining time before homeroom was bum a couple of smokes from a buddy and lean against the wall by the parking lot, trying to look cool. Their plan was progressing nicely until their friend smacked James’ arm and pointed into the lot.

 

“Put it out man, cop” James then said to Troy. Troy hurriedly stubbed out the cigarette on the wall and looked at the police issue Blazer pulling up to the sidewalk. He saw the Chief step out, and was about to wonder aloud what the hell he was doing there on the first day of school, when his jaw dropped and the words died in his mouth. A beautiful girl stepped out of the passenger side, all wavy brown hair, big beautiful eyes, pretty dress, and a body to rival any girl in school.

 

“Who is _that_?” James asked, clearly as confused and interested as Troy. Again, Troy was about to speculate on the identity of the hot new girl with the police escort, when for the second time in as many minutes, his brain short circuited. Another person stumbled out of the truck, and it was none other than Micheal “Frog-face” Wheeler. He walked up to New Girl, who was staring at the school with a look most people get when they reach the top of the first drop on a big roller-coaster, and gently put his arm around her, saying something quiet and intimate.

 

New Girl lit up, suddenly all smiles and talked back with enthusiasm, though from his vantage point Troy couldn’t make out any of what they said. The Chief came around from the back of the truck, wheeling a bicycle and handing it off to Wheeler. He seemed to be giving both of them instructions, before pulling New Girl into a side hug, which she returned enthusiastically, and kissed her on the head. She took Wheeler’s free hand and they presumably started off to meet with the other nerds. Both Frog-face and New Girl gave Troy’s gang a glare for a second as they passed. Troy turned back to James, so as to inquire “what the fuck”, but James was staring ahead slack jawed, frozen and wide-eyed like a deer in headlights.

 

The reason for this, Troy discovered, after following James’ eye line, was that the Chief hadn’t left. He was leaning over the driver’s side door, smoking a cigarette, and staring daggers at them. Troy looked left and right, before making a feeble “Me?” gesture with his finger. The Chief blew smoke from his nose and flicked the cigarette away, before raising two fingers to his eyes, then turning them to face Troy. Troy felt the urge to piss himself in public for the second time in his life at that. The Chief got in his truck and drove off, leaving Troy and James very unsettled and confused for the remainder of the day.

* * *

 

 

Three days had passed for Troy without further incident. Aside from tossing an occasional jibe at the losers in the hall in passing, just to maintain his pride, he’d steered well clear of them in general. He’d discovered the tough girl was Max, and was dating Lucas Sinclair of all people. The pretty new girl was Jane, and the police chief was her Dad apparently, and she was like home-schooled before and came to live here after her mom died or something. And on top of that she was dating Wheeler. The world had officially stopped making sense.

 

He had lunch without James today, but had some other guys he could sit with. Just as he made his way into the cafeteria, an arm wound its way around his shoulder out of nowhere. He turned to the newcomer and found himself staring at a pretty senior girl.

 

“Hi there. I noticed you here all by yourself, and I thought that was a damn shame. So how about you and me go eat outside? It’s a beautiful day after all.” She said, leading him somewhat forcefully to the exit doors. He then recognized this girl. Nancy Wheeler.

 

“What…” He managed to choke out before they were joined by another person.

 

“Hey Nancy. Our friend here joining us for lunch today?” The person said. The person who was Jonathan Byers. This was quickly turning into a bad day. The two led him outside, past the few picnic tables, and into the parking lot. It wasn’t a beautiful day. It was still overcast and turning cold. They were walking towards another person, sitting on the hood of a car. He was wearing a nice jacket, expensive looking shades, and playing with a… baseball bat?

 

“Nancy! Jonathan! So glad you could join me for lunch today!” The guy said with the bat said. The guy that turned out to be Steve Harrington, of all people. And the bat had __nails__ in it. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small green box. “Here Nance, .38’s right?”

 

“Right, thanks. Want to get some target practice in after school today.” Nancy said, taking the box from Steve. Troy couldn’t help the audible whimper that escaped him at that moment.

 

“Oh, yeah. Who’s our special guest today?” Steve asked, turning to look at Troy. Still holding the nail-bat thing, Troy noticed.

 

“This is Troy. Our little brothers have mentioned him once or twice over the years.” Jonathan said, clapping a hand on Troy’s shoulder in a gesture a bit to forceful to be affectionate.

 

“Oh, yeah. Troy. The aspiring dentist, right? Dustin told me __all__ about you.” Steve lowered his sunglasses and fixed Troy with a predatory smirk. Steve Harrington knew Dustin. How? Troy began to hyperventilate a bit.

 

“But we know that’s all in the past now, right?” Jonathan said. “All the shoving, the threats, the name calling, that’s over now.” That wasn’t a statement so much as it was an order.

 

“Yuh-yeah.” Troy choked out.

 

“That’s what I like to hear!” Steve said, clapping him on the shoulder roughly. “Those kids deserve a break, y’know?”

 

“And they better get one.” Nancy said, getting right into his face. She was still smiling, but her eyes were hard. “Because we’re friends with the police. And people have a tendency to go missing in this town.” Troy swallowed hard and nodded.

 

“Good talk. Now why don’t you children run along back to school. Lunch periods don’t last forever.” Steve said. The two seniors rolled their eyes at him.

 

“He’s right, we should get back.” Jonathan said.

 

“This has been nice. I’m _sure_ we’ll be seeing you around school.” Nancy said, as the two started back toward the building. Troy stood in shock until the sound of Harrington’s car door startled him back to something like coherence. He didn’t eat lunch that day.

* * *

 

 

It was finally Friday. This week had been the worst week of his life, and that was saying something, considering he’d peed himself in front of the whole school and had his arm broken somehow within two days. He wasn’t just avoiding the dweebs anymore, he was hiding from their whole families. That was over now. It was Friday afternoon, and he was going to get as far away from those people as possible for the next two days. No arcades, no libraries, and if he wanted a pop he was going to the market, he wasn’t even going to risk running into Byers’ Mom.

 

He and James had made it nearly off school grounds when a blue muscle car nearly ran them over. They would have said something, maybe flipped the asshole the bird, but the car stopped. There seemed to be an argument going on within. He noticed that the passenger had a very familiar hair color. James apparently noticed as well.

 

“Is that that Max girl?” James asked. Troy uttered a silent prayer to anyone who’d listen that it wasn’t. The driver’s side door opened.

 

“I said. Let me. Handle it.” The driver said. Troy shifted the focus of his prayer to just asking for a swift and merciful death. That was Billy goddamn Hargrove. A legend in his own time. No woman he couldn’t have, no drinking or athletic feat he couldn’t top, no fight he couldn't win. He’d only been in Hawkins High for a year, but he’d ruled the school like no one before him. Now he was walking towards Troy and James, shirt unbuttoned enough to display how objectively outclassed they were.

 

“Well well. What do we have here?” Billy said. He was smiling, and Troy had never seen anything more frightening. Billy flicked his cigarette and dragged his tongue across his teeth. “You two shitbirds the big, bad Bullies I’ve heard about? The ones causing trouble for my step-sister?”

 

Of course. Of course her brother was Billy Hargrove. Troy gave up at that moment. Full, unconditional surrender. He would never so much as look in the nerd’s direction again if he could help it. He closed his eyes and waited for what promised to be a legendary beating. He wondered briefly how hard it was to change schools.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I binged all of Kimmy Shmidt, and that led me to re-watch a bunch of the Office. I accomplished nothing during that time. I don't regret it. Also, I discovered, in my attempts to exercise, that it is possible to forget how to ride a bike, saying be damned.


	6. Fun and Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and the Party do some bonding over their favorite games.

“Two armored goblins remain, determined, blood thirsty, and ready to avenge the deaths of their comrades” Mike said, peering over his DM screen around the rest of the table.

 

“I want to hit them with my club.” Steve said.

 

“It’s not your turn dude.” Dustin whispered to Steve. “I, Dustonius, bard extraordinaire, use my trusty lyre to pluck a calming melody and soothe their rage.” Dice rolled across the table.

 

“Their rage has not calmed, but they are distracted by the spectacle.” Mike states.

 

“I cast heal light wounds on Zoomer.” Will said. Dice again hit the table.

 

“Okay, Will the Wise casts his healing spell on Zoomer the Swift, and the Rouge recovers 15 hit points.” Mike said.

 

“Thanks man, now I don’t need to get blood all over my sweet new boots.” Max said. “Well, not my blood anyway.”

 

“I take aim with my mithril bow and fire at the closest goblin’s head.” Lucas said with enthusiasm. Dice roll as everyone looks expectantly.

 

“A critical hit! Lucas Eagle-eye looses his arrow which destroys the goblin’s head completely with it’s force.” Mike shouts, and Lucas throws his hands up in triumph.

 

“Now?” Steve asked. Dustin nodded. “I clobber the hell out of the other goblin with my club.” He rolls his dice.

 

“Your blow renders the goblin senseless and he falls, defeated.” MIke said with all the enthusiasm of someone reciting the pledge of allegiance. “Now let me calculate everyone’s experience poi…”

 

“I’m sorry. Who’s blow defeated the goblin?” Steve asked cheekily.

 

“Sigh. Steve Barbarington the Mighty.” Mike said.

 

“Wow. Did you actually just say the word ‘sigh’ out loud?” Lucas asked. The gang just laughed at Mike’s frustration.

 

The girls had of course been added into the game without question. They were in the party. Characters had been created, stats rolled, back stories written. The girl’s characters had been integrated into the story with great care. First, Max’s Zoomer, a reluctant but capable thief fleeing her cruel family, had attempted to pickpocket a traveler near the party's encampment. They captured her in the attempt, and after she explained her motivations to the noble heroes, and, considering her great skill, was welcomed to join them.

 

Next came El’s Jane Stardust, a lost elven princess, on the run from an evil usurper king who sought to imprison her and use her magic for his wicked conquests. She happened upon the heroes in the forest, and after using her magic to save the party from a terrible beast, she was invited to join their quests with open arms.

 

Dustin had then begged everyone to let Steve play, at least once. He’d similarly begged Steve to play, at least once. Steve’s Barbarian had thus been discovered along the side of the road, and being a barbarian from a long line of barbarians, was just looking to hit something with a club and asked to tag along. Dustin and Steve deemed this a perfectly acceptable backstory. Mike was less pleased. He put a lot of effort into the game, and expected everyone to at least try and do the same..

 

Mike doled out everyone’s points and continued with the campaign. “You continue deeper into the Sunken Reliquary, and find yourselves in a rounded room with a domed ceiling. The walls and floor are hewn from solid stone, the only feature a heavy, ornate bronze door opposite the entrance.” Mike said, slipping into his more melodramatic mode of speech.

 

“Ornate?” El asked.

 

“Like it has fancy stuff all over it, decorations and things.” Dustin helpfully supplied.

 

“Oh. I, um, look at the door?” El said.

 

“Okay, you just need to roll for perception check.” Mike said. She rolled her dice the way they showed her. “Okay. Lady Jane Stardust examines the door. Upon its surface are four gargoyle-like faces, mouths wide open, two on either side of the door. In the center of the door is a message in ancient script, its meaning unknown to you.”

 

“Can I read it?” Max asked.

 

“Lucas?” Mike asked. Lucas looked over Max’s character sheet.

 

“No, but she could attempt a lock-pick or inspect it for booby traps.” Lucas said, more to Max than Mike.

 

“Which should I do?” Max looked around.

 

“I think you should inspect it for traps. Seems like the kind of thing that would have traps.” Will said, stroking his chin. Dustin and El nodded, as thus far the campaign had been full of tricks, traps, and riddles.

 

“Okay, I inspect the door for traps.” She rolled her dice and smiled at the luck of her roll. Max may have been a bit hesitant about this game when they’d invited her, but she was __all__ in now. She wasn’t quite as good as the boys yet, but when Max Mayfield played a game, she played to win. If winning also happened to involve stealthy stealing and stabbing, bonus points.

 

“Zoomer the Swift uses her tool kit and extensive knowledge of locks and mechanisms to inspect the door for traps. You deduce there are no traps, but a magical mechanism at work, focused on the four faces. Without the correct procedure, the door will remain closed in the face of both force and finesse.” Mike said. Max nodded contentedly, having made the right choice.

 

“My turn,” Dustin cracked his knuckles. “I utilize my vast knowledge of story and song from the wide world over to translate the message on the door.” Dustin said. Mike examined the roll against his table.

 

“Okay. This language in particular may be unfamiliar to Dustonius, but it’s similar enough to other scripts that you manage a rough translation. ‘Present the four gifts of nature to open the path.’” Mike said.

 

“What, it wants flowers or something?” Steve quipped.

 

“No, man, it wants four different things. Maybe gems?” Dustin asked.

 

“Four… The four elements of nature!” Lucas shouted, smacking the table.

 

“I thought there were like, a hundred elements.” Max asked, confused.

 

“Not the periodic table elements, the mythic elements. Earth, wind, fire and water.” Will said.

 

“So it wants disco music instead.” Steve said, earning a small laugh from the girls.

 

“I think we just need to put something made out of each element in each mouth to open the door. I can make water, and El can make fire, so we just need to figure out wind and earth.” Will said. “I aim my staff at the rightmost mouth and cast create water.”

 

“Create water?” Max asked.

 

“Dude, why do you even have that spell?” Dustin condescended.

 

“People get thirsty, I can also create food if I need to. Oh, and for times like right exactly now.” Will responded huffily, crossing his arms.

 

“Ahem. Will the Wise casts Create Water, and crystal clear fluid appears in the air above the Gargoyles tongue. The shimmering liquid cascades onto the tongue, which, exposed to the water, moves like a thing alive and slurps the water into it’s mouth. The mouth snaps closed, and the door rumbles with the sound of an unseen mechanism at work.” Mike said, pouring on the melodrama.

 

“Okay, that's one down. El has fire taken care of, so wind or earth next?” Will asked.

 

“Does anyone have any rocks or anything?” Lucas asked the table.

 

“It didn’t occur to me to stuff my bag of holding full of rocks, sorry.” Dustin quipped.

 

“Oooooh! I know!” Max said. She pulled Lucas in close and whispered to him. Lucas looked at her skeptically.

 

“What? No way. That’s dumb.” Lucas said.

 

“Oh yeah? What else ya got, Sir Stalker?” Max teased.

 

“Ugh, fine. Its a waste of a turn, it won’t work anyway.” Lucas said. “I, uh, blowinthesecondgargoylemouth.” He mumbled.

 

“What?” Mike asked.

 

“I blow in the second gargoyle’s mouth!” Lucas yelled.

 

“Dude, with Max sitting right there?” Steve asked, smirking.

 

“Not cool man.” Dustin tagged on.

 

“Shut up! Well, did it work?” Lucas demanded of Mike.

 

“Hold on, I… um… Would that require a constitution check? No, no, um… roll for… accuracy maybe?” Mike was talking to himself, going over his tables. The entire group looked on impatiently. “Ahem. Yes. With a mighty breath, Lucas Eagle-eye blows into the second gargoyle from the left’s open mouth. As before, the bronze face accepts the offering, snapping it’s mouth closed, as the door trembles once more from the workings of the unseen mechanism.”

 

“Ha! Told you!” Max high-fived Lucas, and the two proceeded to do a little victory dance in their chairs.

 

“Great, take the easy one and leave me to figure out the hard part.” Steve grumped. He pulled Dustin in close to form a small huddle. “Alright, what’s my move here?”

 

“Not sure. We didn’t think to bring any dirt or rocks with us. All our equipment is metal, wood, and leather. None of our spells can make earth either.” Dustin whispered.

 

“C’mon man, if anyone can figure out how to spontaneously create dirt its you.” Steve snarked. His eyes lit up. “Wait a second, that’s it. Ha Ha! I got it.” Steve straightened up, locking eyes with Mike. A cocky smirk spreading across his face.

 

“Well?” Mike asked. Even though he’d been skeptical at first, Mike would admit having Steve play hadn’t been as bad as he’d feared. He wasn’t a great player, either, making jokes about the story and questioning the rules a little too much for Mike’s tastes. Mike was still unsure about Steve being in the party.

 

“Question, can I get everybody to do something on my turn? Not magic or anything, just something simple, like they don’t even have to really move.” Steve asked.

 

“I guess. What did you have In mind?” Mike asked.

 

“Well, I was inspired by the fact that my constant taxi fare Dustin keeps ruining my floor mats all the time, even though I very specifically told him not to.” Steve said, casting a side-eyed glance toward Dustin. “I would like everyone to stomp their feet.”

 

“Okay…? The party stomps their feet on the ground.” Mike said.

 

“Excellent. Considering we were just marching through that swamp with the giant bats…” Steve started.

 

“The Sorrowful Mire.” Mike interrupted.

 

“Right, that. Since we trudged through there, everyone’s shoes are probably covered in mud and dirt, and none of us stomped or wiped our feet when we came into the…” Steve raised his hand, gesturing to Mike.

 

“The Sunken Reliquary.” Mike sighed.

 

“So, we should have a nice collection of dirt all over the floor now. Which I scoop up, and toss in the door mouth.” Steve folded his hands behind his head, very satisfied. Mike searched through his tables and charts, definitely not trying to find a legitimate reason that this strategy wouldn’t work. He’d worked out a whole thing, and Lucas already got around the wind one. Begrudgingly, he was forced to concede Steve’s cleverness.

 

“Steven Barbarington the Mighty scrounges on the ground for the remnants of hard travels from his allies, and tosses the soil into the first bronze mouth. It accepts the offering eagerly and snaps closed, the familiar mechanism grumbling to life once more.” Mike announced, with a little less zeal than normal. Steve accepted a few high fives from around the table.

 

“Right on. Time for Ellie to bring it on home.” Steve clapped his hands as the attention shifted to El.

 

El smiled. This game was complicated, and she still occasionally struggled when it wasn’t straightforward what she should do, but she was having a blast. They had told her she didn’t need to dress up, which was silly. You don’t _need_ to eat ice cream either. Playing pretend was something all kids did, supposedly, and since she’d mostly missed out during her childhood, she was making up for it. She loved being the mysterious lost elven princess, beautiful, powerful and elegant. (There had been some contention about her backstory being a bit too grandiose, clocking in at thirteen pages, but Mike was DM, and seeing as how he both wrote it and had final say in accepting it, the story of Princess Jane Stardust became official Party lore.)

 

El adjusted her Mage cap (a cone of purple felt glued to Joyce’s old sunhat), raised her enchanted elven wand (an impressively smooth stick she’d found outside the cabin) and announced in her character’s distinctive accent (a hodgepodge of different British dialects cobbled together from various Disney characters) “With my magical wand of… magic, I cast a fireball at the last mouth on the door. Fwoosh!” She was quite proud of her special effects. Her luck held true as her dice rolled across the table.

 

“Jane Stardust, the lovely elven mage, steps forth and gracefully takes aim at the final gargoyle’s mouth. Channeling the destructive forces of nature with ease, she casts sizzling torrent of flame into the door. Sparks and embers dance in the air as the mouth follows the others and swallows the flame, snapping closed with a sharp Clang! A rush of air rustles the Lady Jane’s elegant robes as the mechanism, now fully activated, drops the heavy door into the stone floor, revealing the room beyond.” Mike announced. The whole party cheered and fist-pumped, clapping each other on the back and laughing. El, wearing a proud grin, blew imaginary smoke from the tip of her wand, earning a round of laughs from the table.

 

“Okay. Dibs.” Max said. Everyone just stared at her.

 

“Dibs on… what?” Dustin asked.

 

“There’s gotta be treasure in there. I call dibs.” Max said.

 

“You can’t call dibs on a treasure you haven’t even seen yet!” Dustin shouted.

 

“Just did!” Max said, and stuck her tongue out at him.

 

“Hey, cut it out. We all pitched in, we share the treasure.” Steve admonished.

 

“Fine. What’s in there anyway?” Max said, fixing her gaze on Mike.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, are we interested in what I have to say again all of a sudden?” Mike asked, fake hurt in his voice. Max rolled her eyes and made it clear she wasn’t impressed. “Okay. The room beyond is illuminated by torchlight, reflected by the gold coins which litter the floor. Among the gold you see…” Mike checked his table “A short sword, an iron mace, and a well made leather jerkin. The most prominent aspect of the room is a well illuminated plinth, upon which sits a silver bell.” Mike finished.

 

“Dibs on the short sword!” Max yelled.

 

“C’mon! I need that! You just got those dexterity boots when we came in the building!” Dustin whined.

 

“Ugh, such a baby. Fine. I’ll take a look at the bell then.” Max sighed.

 

“Zoomer the Swift approaches the plinth and reaches out for the bell, a …” Mike started.

 

“What’s a plinth?” Lucas asked.

 

“Its like a pedestal. Now, as I was saying a voice…” Mike answered.

 

“What is with the ten dollar words today? Reliquary, plinth, where are you getting these from?” Lucas asked.

 

“What? I just thought it made it sound better, so I used a little more variety…” Mike started before being interrupted again.

 

“He used the Saurus while he wrote last week.” El supplied. Dustin giggled to himself as this produced an image in his mind of a dinosaur in a tweed jacket and little glasses assisting Mike at the library.

 

“Yes, I used a thesaurus. Thank you El. I’m trying to improve the atmosphere a little, you have a problem with that?” Mike asked.

 

“No, just, you know, don’t know who you’re trying to impress with all this fancy lingo.” Lucas shrugged.

 

“Hey, I think it really helps sell the story. It really feels like ye oldie times.” Steve said. He wasn’t kidding either. Dungeons and Dragons didn’t match up with his usual idea of a good time, but damned if he wasn’t having fun. It was like one of those choose your own adventure books he’d had as a kid, but you got to do it as a team. And Mike, mopey, snarky, hopelessly lovesick Mike, wrote the whole thing! He’d still hesitate to call it _cool_ , but it was definitely entertaining.

 

“Well, uh, yeah. Thanks. So, can I continue? Right. A voice echoes through the room, sounding as though it comes from everywhere at once. ‘Behold the bell of Charon! The one who possesses this sacred tool shall gain the ability to calm the restless spirits who wander this realm, and return them to their proper rest.’” Mike said, putting on a raspy voice for the unseen speaker.

 

“Why can your mom’s bell calm the undead?” Will asked.

 

“What? No, not Karen, Charon! Karr-Ohn. The ferryman of the river styx.”

 

“Oh. That makes more sense.” Will said. “Oh! Now that we have that, we can get rid of that wall of… sorry, the Aegis of Lost Souls around Sorcerer’s castle!” He exclaimed.

 

“And rescue prince Alcor!” El said.

 

“And smack that dopey jerk Court Sorcerer right in his face!” Steve added in with excitement.

 

“Wow, sounds pretty exciting.” Jonathan’s voice came from up the stairs, surprising the group.

 

“Pull up a chair man, we’re getting to a good part here.” Steve said, waving him over.

 

“No can do. I have to get Will home, and we’re already a little late. El, the Chief’s waiting at our place to take you home too.” Jonathan said, and both “awwed” petulantly.

 

“What, why? What time is it?” Steve said, scanning the room for a clock.

 

“About 10:35.” Jonathan said, checking his watch.

 

“WHAT!? We’ve been playing for, for… nine and a half hours?!” Steve exclaimed. “Jesus, Dustin I need to get you home. You too Max, I am not dealing with one of your step-brother’s freak-outs if you’re late. Get your stuff, hustle, quick like bunnies.” Steve clapped in the kid’s direction. Dustin and Max grumbled a bit but gathered their belongings.

 

Lucas said his goodbyes to Max, while Mike was already rushing after Will and El to see everyone to the door. Steve grabbed his arm.

 

“What time tomorrow?” Steve asked.

 

“What?” Mike said.

 

“I’ll pick everyone up, but what time should we be here tomorrow? I want to make sure we’ll be able to finish it. You’ll be able to remember where we left off right?” Steve asked, without a hint of mockery or irony in his voice.

 

“Seriously? I guess, I don’t know, 10 or 11 would be good? Should only be a few hours left.” Mike said, still somewhat shell shocked.

 

“Awesome, see you then. All right you hooligans, this train is leaving the station, let’s move out!” Steve announced to Dustin and Max, who trailed up the stairs behind him.

 

“Huh.” Mike said.

 

“What?” Lucas asked.

 

“Guess Steve’s in the party now.” Mike said, shrugging.  

 

The following week…

 

“Shoes off!” Steve shouted at the six teens trailing into his house behind him. He struggled to remove his coat and shoes while keeping his grip on the three shopping bags in his hands.

 

“I don’t see why we had to come over here. Hopper’ll be pissed if he finds out.” Mike groused.

 

“So don’t tell him. We’ll be back at the Byers’ before anyone gets home.” Steve replied.

 

“Steven?” A woman’s voice called from within the house. Steve walked a little ways into the living room, finding his mother sitting on the couch, painting her fingernails. She was an attractive middle aged woman, her hair nicely done, and the outfit she had chosen for a Saturday afternoon around the house was closer to what most people would consider their Sunday best.

 

“Oh, hey Mom. I didn’t think you’d be home. Dad here too?” Steve asked.

 

“No, out at the country club. Golfing with Mr. Froman.” She said.

 

“Ouch.” Steve said.

 

“It’s all about who you know sweetie. He might be an obnoxious boor, but the man owns half of Indianapolis.” She sighed.

 

“Going the full 18?” Steve asked.

 

“And I’m meeting them for dinner after.” She said, with a small sigh.

 

“My condolences.” Steve said, smirking.

 

“Who are your friends?” Steve’s mother asked, leaning to see around him. All six of his wards for the day, complete with their coats and hats (thankfully lacking their wet and dirty shoes), had trailed after him and were now bunched in the doorway behind him. Dustin was leading the pack.

 

“Hi Mrs. Harrington! It’s me, Dustin. We’ve talked on the phone.” Dustin spoke up, pulling off his hat.

 

“Oh, Dustin! Hello! So nice to finally meet you! Oh, would you look at that hair! I know a lot of people who would pay good money for hair like that.” Mrs. Harrington said. Dustin smiled wide.

 

“Thanks.” Dustin said, proudly patting his curls.

 

“Yeah, so, you know how I sort of accidentally adopted Dustin, right? Turns out the whole gang here is sort of a package deal. Somebody needs to keep an eye on them so they stay out of trouble.” Steve said.

 

“Oh, I’m sure. They look like real trouble makers.” Mrs. Harrington said.

 

“You have no idea. Drugs, kidnapping, grand theft auto, arson, and that was just the night I met most of these future felons.” Steve said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder at the kids. “Anyway, you know Dustin, and that’s Will, Mike, Max, Jane and Lucas.” Each one waved as he said their name. “I was going to take them down to the rumpus room, is that okay?”

 

“Just don’t scratch, scuff, or break anything. Oh and keep away from the bar.” Mrs. Harrington said.

 

“Oh, I’ll do my best to avoid sipping from Dad’s eighty dollar bottles of paint thinner.” Steve said sarcastically. “Brought sodas for me and the kids anyway.” Steve said, lifting the shopping bags in his hand, as he opened a door and headed down the stairs.

 

The kids followed Steve down the stairs, piling up behind him at the bottom.

 

“So. We’re here. What’s the big…” Mike was cut off by Steve switching on the lights. The dark basement transformed before their eyes into something which belonged in a casino or cruise ship. Wall to wall plush burgundy carpet met dark and rich colored wood paneling. Leather wing back chairs set by book cases stuffed with leather bound volumes. Various photos, plaques and fishing trophies from around the world. There was even a modestly sized and well stocked bar.

 

While objectively impressive, those things barely even registered to the kids. They were focused on the large, expensive looking billiards table, octagonal card table complete with fancy painted wooden chips, and huge, expensive looking stereo system against the wall.

 

“You guys brought me to the arcade, got me to play Dungeons and Dragons, so I figured I owed you. So, Mi casa es you casa for a couple of hours. I can teach you guys to play cards, we can put on some records, you know, let the good times roll.” Steve said.

 

The Party let Steve’s words and the room itself sink in for a moment.

 

“Wheeler no longer has the best basement.” Max stated simply.

 

“Yeah.” Mike agreed.

 

With that simple utterance, the kids exploded in different directions like a shotgun blast. Mike and Will raced over toward the stereo, Mike pouring over every knob and dial, excitedly announcing all the features and capabilities of the device to anyone and everyone. Will had meanwhile pounced on the cases of records piled nearby, flipping through the sleeves with eager fingers.

 

Max and Lucas had shot over to the pool table, examining the expensive table from every angle. Max spoke rapidly about the great times she’d had with the pool table her father had owned back in California. Lucas pulled out the cues and chalk, racked and re-racked the balls, putting the table through its paces while he listened to Max’s tales from home.

 

Dustin and El had each wandered to various wall adornments. Dustin ran his fingers along the spines of the various books, pausing here and there as he noted titles he recognized. El stared with wide, curious eyes at the various plaques and framed photos along the wall. Rather quickly she identified the man who had to be Steve’s dad, with his familiar smile and swoopy hair, though both were a bit more reserved on the father than his son. She moved on to the fish on boards, pausing at a large swordfish trophy. She began to giggle to herself. Dustin, curious, wandered over.

 

“What’s funny?” He asked.

 

“Sad fish.” El said.

 

Dustin cocked his head at the fish, trying to see what she saw. It did look a little sad, they all did, nailed to the wall he supposed. It didn’t strike him as funny, though. “Why? What do you mean?” He asked.

 

“Long face.” She answered, grinning and pulling her fingers together in front of her nose to mime the long nose of the swordfish. Dustin groaned.

 

“MIKE! Your girlfriend’s making puns again!” Dustin yelled to his friend.

 

“El, stop making puns.” Mike said without even turning his head from the stereo, too distracted by this expensive new toy to even give him the familiar ‘she’s not my girlfriend’ routine.

 

“NEVER!” El shouted back between giggles, sauntering off to examine something else, eventually settling on the bar, trying to sound out the various names on the labels.

 

“I tried.” Mike said with a shrug. Dustin threw his arms up in defeat, joining El and explaining that, no, it wasn’t pronounced Teh-kwee-lah, and agreeing that, yes, the “q” made it confusing.

 

Steve surveyed the contained chaos with arms crossed, and a satisfied smile on his face. He hadn’t brought anyone down here in years. Not even Nancy had been in here. The last friend he’d had down there had been Tommy in junior high, but most of the friends he’d made since then had been more interested his pool and his beer, not to mention he hadn’t ever really trusted them enough not to wreck his dad’s stuff or drink his expensive booze.

 

Given these kids penchant for trouble making, he probably should be wary of them as well, but, he decided that seeing the kids this excited made it more than worth it. The familiar opening to “Come Together” by the Beatles started up, pumping through the basement in high fidelity. Steve nodded to Will in approval of his choice. Steve clapped his hands gathering everyone’s attention.

 

“Alright, bring it in. We’re here for a reason. I played your game, now you play one of mine.” Steve produced a brand new deck of cards from a drawer near the card table. “Today, we’re playing poker.”

 

El’s eyes widened, and she jogged over to the table. “Oh, I like poker.”

 

“You know how to play?” Steve asked, passing the deck to her. She quickly removed the jokers and rule card, and started shuffling the deck against the table. She fumbled a bit at first, and she wasn’t quite ready to work the Vegas tables yet, but it was nonetheless impressive.

 

“We played at the cabin. A lot, before the TV.” El said.

 

“He taught you poker?” Steve asked.

 

“Mmhmm. And crazy eights. And old maid. Go fish. And gin rummy. Oh, and blackjack.” El said without looking away from her shuffling.

 

“He taught you _blackjack_?” Steve asked, incredulous.

 

“Yep. It’s good for math practice he said. We bet with cookies. We kept eating them, though.” She said.

 

“Well, I assume the rest of you don’t know how to play, so sit down.” Steve gestured around the table. The kids took seats, Dustin to Steve’s left, Lucas and Max next to him, then El and Mike, and finally Will to Mike’s left.

 

“You know what? We should play strip poker.” Dustin said, smirking suggestively.

 

“Dude, not a good ratio for that.” Steve said through a frustrated sigh. Kid had a lot to learn.

 

“I’m in.” Max said.

 

“Seriously?” Dustin and Lucas said simultaneously. The others looked at her like she’d grown a second head. Will was the first to recover his wits, and savvy on to her meaning.

 

“Max, how many pairs of socks are you wearing?” Will asked.

 

“Just two. And before you ask, also long johns, two shirts, a flannel, and my jacket.” She smirked.

 

“She’s cheating.” Will said.

 

“It’s not cheating. It just so happens I get cold.” Max started to explain.

 

“It’s like forty seven degrees out!” Mike shouts.

 

“Exactly! Anyway, if I’m wearing some extra clothes, and El is apparently some kind of card shark, I figured this would be a good way to see some sweet, pasty nerd skin.” She said, drawing out the last few words with a suggestive eyebrow waggle. El was plenty confused now.

 

“Nerd skin? What’s strip poker? What are you talking about?” El asked. Max leaned in and explained it to her in a whisper. El’s eyes went wide in understanding, then she turned to face Mike, who had gone a bit red the moment strip poker was mentioned. A smile crept onto her face, as she eyed him up and down, followed by her going completely red, and hiding her face in her hands. “No strip poker!” She said, muffled by her hands.

 

“We aren’t playing strip poker!” Steve yelled. “Just, regular poker. Five card draw.” He piled chips up in front of him. “Everybody take out this many chips. Whites are a dollar, reds are five, blue are ten, black is twenty.”

 

“We playing for real money?” Lucas asked.

 

“You have a hundred cash to cover it? If so, then sure.” Steve said.

 

“So what are we playing for?” Mike asked.

 

“Besides fun? What do you want?” Steve asked.

 

“It’s your game.” Mike said. Steve pondered for a moment.

 

“I’ve got a good one. Winner gets their arcade visits for a month funded by all the losers.” Steve said.

 

“What?!”’That’s not fair””No way!” the boys erupted.

 

“When you play poker, there’s gotta be stakes guys. No fooling around, you gotta play to win.” Steve said. A serious look (far too serious for the situation) passed around the table.

 

“Ok. Deal. We’re in.” Mike announced. Steve went over the rules, card values, hand rankings, betting, calling, the whole spiel lasting longer than it ought to have, as the kids kept interrupting.

 

After a few shaky hands, and a short break to divvy up the pretzels, popcorn, and sodas (cream soda and root beer, to give it an authentic poker night look) the party was well settled into their game.

 

In the latest hand, the only players left in were Dustin, Max and El.

 

“Bets to you Dusty. Last chance, in or out?” Steve said.

 

A bead of sweat dripped down Dustin’s temple as he examined his cards. A pair of sevens. Not the greatest hand, but it was something. El was stone faced. She simply stared at him, practicality unblinking. The whole group had discovered she possessed what may be the world’s greatest poker face. Finding no clues there, he turned to Max, who was daring him to call with her eyes. They had similarly discovered she was a very good at bluffing. Fidgeting for a moment, Dustin gave in.

 

“I fold!” He shouted, tossing his cards down, then following them, resting his head on his arms on the tables edge.

 

“I call.” El said. “Two twos.”

 

“Ha!” Max yelled. “Pair of fives!” She scooped in her newly earned chips, as she took the lead.

 

“Fives! Twos! I could have won that hand! Ugh.” Dustin cried. The lead had shifted around between Steve, Max and El a few times. Lucas was currently doing fairly well, having scored a comeback after winning a big pot, and Will’s conservative play style had kept him from losing much. Dustin was in last place, his enthusiasm and inability to read the others’ bluffs getting him into trouble early and often. The biggest surprise was Mike, only ahead of Dustin by a few chips. Mike had no ability to bluff, despite his best efforts. The poor kid wore his heart on his sleeve and everyone was taking full advantage.

 

“Why are you playing so hard anyway? You aren’t even allowed at the arcade!” Dustin whined at El.

 

“I like winning. Its fun.” She shrugged.

 

“Besides,” Mike said, shooting a dirty look at Dustin, “its on the list, she’d just have to wait a while to collect.”

 

“What list?” Steve asked.

 

“The ’Once El’s Finally Free To Do List Extravaganza.’” Lucas answered.

 

“TM.” Will added, returning to the table after flipping the record.

 

“Oh that’s cool. What’s on the list so far?” Steve asked.

 

“The arcade, the movies, the mall if its open, a bunch of restaurants, the carnival…” Mike started, ticking off on his fingers as he went.

 

“Teaching her to ride a bike, to skateboard, to swim, go to the beach…” Max added on.

 

“Take her to the library, the comic book store, the zoo, record store, fireworks, the Wheeler’s 4th party, trick or treating…” Dustin continued.

 

“Aren’t you guys a little old for trick or treating?” Steve asked, dealing the next hand.

 

“First off, no, free candy is free candy, and second, El’s never been. Plus, we have two girls in the party now, so that adds whole new costume possibilities.” Lucas said, examining his cards.

 

“That raises a good point, we should figure out our costumes for this year. Don’t want to wait ‘till the last minute.” Dustin said, arranging and rearranging his chips as though that would change the meager amount of them.

 

“We have over eight months, I think we’ll manage.” Max said.

 

“It’s doesn’t hurt to throw out some ideas.” Mike said, rearranging his cards with an expression which told everyone he had nothing.

 

“Star Wars?” Lucas suggested, trading in two cards.

 

“There’s only one girl in Star Wars.” Max said.

 

“What? No. That can’t be right! There’s… um… well, Leia obviously, but there’s also… uh… oh! There’s Mon Mothma!” Dustin said.

 

“Who?” Max asked.

 

“The lady who goes over the plan in the end of Jedi.” Mike said. “Ugh. I fold.”

 

“That totally doesn’t count.” Max said to Dustin.

 

“Whatever. I had a better idea anyway, how about the A-Team?” Dustin asked.

 

“Oh, let me guess, I’m Mr. T?” Lucas asked, an edge to his voice.

 

“Uh, no, clearly I’m B.A. Baracus.” Dustin shot back.

 

“What?!” Lucas asked.

 

“Its about the team dynamic, not looks. I’m B.A., Will is Face, you’re Murdoch, and Mike is Hannibal.” Dustin explained, as though it were both logical and obvious. Lucas was about to retort, when Max beat him to it.

 

“And what about me and El? There aren’t any girls on the A-Team either.” Max accused, tossing a few chips in to match the current bet.

 

“I thought of that, we just need another girl and we could do a team up with Charlie’s Angels!” Dustin said, excited.

 

“No way.” Max said, eyes narrowed. “You just want us to dress slutty.”

 

“What? No. They don’t even dress slutty.” Dustin said. “ _That_ slutty.”

 

“El… That uh…” Mike started.

 

“I know what slutty means.” El said matter-of-factly, not glancing up from her cards.

 

“What?” Mike asked, dismayed.

 

“Who?” Steve asked, defensive.

 

“General Hospital, All My Children.” El said, tossing chips into the pot.

 

“We might need to take a look at what you watch all day.” Steve said.

 

“Nope. I need my stories.” El said, straight faced, a phrase she’d picked up from Hopper.

 

“So anyone have any better ideas?” Max asked.

 

“What about Will? You’re creative buddy. What do you want to do for Halloween?” Steve asked. Will had been silent and sort of zoned out through the entire costume conversation.

 

“Get a shotgun, lock all the doors and windows, and wait for spring?” Will mumbled bitterly, rearranging his cards without looking at the group.

 

“Wow.” Lucas said.

 

“That’s… a plan.” Steve added.

 

An oppressive and awkward silence settled over the room. Will’s second selection of musical accompaniment (Sgt. Pepper’s, Steve’s dad didn’t have much current music) only seemed to add to the density of the discomfort. The clinking of chips, the crunching of pretzels, and the soft thump of glass bottles on coasters were suddenly uncomfortably loud. Will looked guilty for bringing the mood down, but couldn’t quite bring himself to say anything else. The silence was broken, reluctantly, by Lucas.

 

“I, uh, fold.” He said quietly.

 

“Check.” Max said, a little louder, but still afraid to breach the awkward tension.

 

El nervously finished her third cream soda before taking her turn. “Che-urp.” El said, clapping a hand over her mouth in surprise at the sudden, unintentional sound which had escaped her. Everyone just stared for a moment, El’s eyes wide and ears turning red. Dustin was the first to start laughing, doing a poor job concealing his snort. Max and Lucas followed, barely containing themselves for El’s sake.

 

“That’s nothing. Check this out. *BUUURP*” Max offered, swinging an arm out in front of her like an opera singer. The table erupted in laughter.

 

“Okay, okay, not bad Mad Max, but how about this?” Lucas followed with his own exaggerated belch.

 

“You guys are disgusting!” Mike accused. It lost a little of its sting considering how hard he was laughing. Will soon joined the chorus with a quieter, but nonetheless impressive entry of his own. “Will!” Mike shouted at his friend, both laughing so hard tears were gathering at the corners of their eyes.

 

“Ahem.” Steve announced, gathering the giggling attention of the rest of the table. He raised a single finger, indicating he wished for quiet, and proceeded to recite the alphabet in a single gaseous go. Lucas started clapping, and was soon joined by everyone else. “Thank you, thank you, be sure to tip your waitress.” Steve said, smiling and bowing.

 

Dustin was quieter than the rest, eyes darting from side to side, fighting a losing battle to keep a grin off his face. Steve noticed this, confused at first, then, eyes widening with dawning horror.

 

“Dustin. What have you done?” Steve asked. Dustin just broke out into full giggles. Steve flinched back as though he had been physically struck, then rushed to pull his shirt collar up over his nose. “Dude!”

 

This exclamation was enough to gain the attention of the other laughing teens. They looked from Dustin, now cackling openly, to Steve and realized what had happened. It was already too late.

 

“Oh my God man!” Lucas shouted.

 

“That is so gnarly! I can’t breathe!” Max yelled, following Steve’s example and hiding in her shirt.

 

“What is that? Is that from Dustin?” El asked, clutching her nose.

 

“Christ dude, my eyes are burning!” Mike said. Will simply made exaggerated gagging noises. Everyone but Dustin stood and left the table, gathering on the other side of the billiards table.

 

“I invite you into my home and you… you… defile my basement?” Steve said.

 

El motioned to Dustin and turned to the others, disgust evident on her face. “That’s not normal. Is he going to be okay?”

 

Will grabbed her shoulder, looking into her face somberly. “I’m afraid it is normal. For him. We’re the only ones in danger. On the upside, I guess he feels comfortable enough around you two to stop holding it in.”

 

“That’s sweet, I guess. Gross, but sweet. Kinda like rotten fruit.” Max said. The whole gang now joined in with Dustin in laughing. Steve looked at his watch and frowned.

 

“Ah, damn. We gotta get back kiddos.” Long faces looked back at him. “Don’t give me that look, you know we have to beat Hopper and Mrs. Byers back to Will’s. So let’s clean up and get a move on.”

 

“I don’t want to go over there.” Will said, crinkling his nose in disgust, pointing to the card table where Dustin was now standing.

 

“Fair point. Dustin, you clean up. Empties in the grocery bag, pretzels back in their bag. And hurry would you?” Dustin raised a fuss, but everyone ignored him. Mike and Will removed the record from the turntable, and made sure the stereo was off and the records returned to their proper places. Lucas and Max collected the coats and passed them out. El tugged on Steve’s sleeve to get his attention.

 

“Do we… Can we come back? To… play here again?” El asked, in the bashful way she always did when she was asking for something she wanted and somehow didn’t think she deserved.

 

“Of course Elly-bean! Not every day, though, you know? Hopper and all. But when we get another chance to sneak out, you betcha. Assuming Mike hasn’t finished the next campaign…?” He said, turning to needle Mike with his eyes.

 

“It’s only been a week! I need more time than that.” Mike grumbled.

 

“Got the trash. Thanks for the help guys.” Dustin said, holding up the clinking grocery bag and rolled up pretzel bag.

 

“Don’t turn it into a hazmat zone and we’ll help next time.” Lucas said, swatting Dustin on the arm, starting a small slap fight which Steve had to break up. Everyone started up the stairs.

 

“Ok, get your shoes. The shoes you came in with! And no fighting over the front seat. Max and Jane up front, the boys in back. Don’t argue! There will be no further co-ed lap sitting in my car. When you twerps finally get your own licenses you can play hanky-panky in your own cars.” Steve commanded the now blushing teens.

 

“Leaving already?” Mrs. Harrington asked, smiling as she watched her son deal with the kids.

 

“Yeah, we’re on a schedule. This was kind of an unsanctioned field trip, so you know, keep it under wraps.” Steve said, conspiratorially.

 

“My lips are sealed. What time will you be home? Care to join your father and I for dinner?” Steve’s mother asked.

 

“Free fancy meal and all I need to do is deal with Mr. Froman” Steve said, weighing the options with his hands “Or leftover pizza and hot-dogs while I have to manage the brat-pack…” He finished. “Hm, sorry Ma, you know how I feel about hot dogs. Rain check!” He told her, flashing her a smile before literally herding the kids out the front door.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meh. This thing. Took a while. I've been exercising after work and trying to 100% Hollow Knight on the Switch. I don't manage my time well. I was wise to not promise any kind of schedule for this. I consider Dustin's potency and El's fascination with dressing up to be canon, based on the last episode of season 1 and El's, like, 5 distinctive looks over 17 episodes. Still to come, adventures in dog sitting, unexpected reunions, scary movies, and backyard barbecues.


	7. Peer Pressure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Party has various means of dealing with trauma. Co-dependence, denial, research? A poor choice for movie night lets them show these off a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small look at how the Party may react to something which on the one hand inspired the ST creators and the events of the series, while on the other hand, definitely still exists within their canon universe.

“It _is_ one of the greatest Sci-fi movies of all time.” Lucas said

 

“And neither of the girls have seen it, which is a crime.” Dustin said, and turned to address Max. “El had some pretty good reasons for not seeing Alien, or Star Wars, or any movie ever, but what’s your excuse?”

 

“It’s called I was outdoors surfing and skating and having a life?” Max answered.

 

“Overrated.” Dustin said, waving her off.

 

“Look, I’m not denying it’s a quality film. Just that, with everything, you know, maybe it’s not appropriate for movie night.” Mike said, trying to sound diplomatic.

 

“I read that there’s a sequel coming out soon, so if we decide to see it, El and Max would be totally lost.” Dustin said.

 

“Mike, seriously, its just a movie. We’ve been through worse. We’re not little kids any more.” Will said, sounding determined and maybe a little annoyed (he didn’t like people trying to protect him from life, he was fine).

 

Mike looked to El who shrugged and said “I always close my eyes at scary parts anyway.”

 

“Okay, I guess we’re watching Alien tonight” Mike conceded.

 

A little over an hour into the film, the Party was spread out across the assembled couches and … not doing well.

 

 Ever since the crew on screen had discovered the alien ship, El had gradually but steadily curled further into a seated fetal position, eventually leaning over and burying her face into Mike’s shoulder. She glanced at the screen only occasionally, and regretted it nearly every time. Mike had his arm curled protectively around her, while his knee was bouncing relentlessly, and his eyes scanned manically around the room every few seconds as though an attack could come from any side at any moment.

 

 Somewhere between the face-hugger and the chest-burster, Will had stopped even seeing the film. His face was bloodless and he was soaked with sweat, his eyes unfocused and gazing into the middle distance.

 

Lucas looked as though he was fighting the urge to be ill, and didn’t even seem to notice that both Max and Dustin were gripping onto his arms with bruising force. Dustin looked as though he may cry. The air-ducts in the film were far too reminiscent of the claustrophobic bus surrounded by demo-dogs in which they had all been sure they were about to die. It was after the death of Captain Dallas that Max finally screwed up her courage, standing up and turning off the TV in a single violent motion.

 

“Oh thank god.” Dustin whispered.

 

“Fuck. That.” Max said.

 

The party quickly became aware of Will’s panicked breathing and vacant stare. Mike started to stand in order to check on him, but El grabbed his sleeve and made a plaintive “Nuh” noise. She didn’t raise her head or change her position. Mike shot a look over at Lucas. Lucas understood, and after prying a slightly embarrassed Dustin off his arm, walked over to check on Will.

 

“Will? Hey, you okay buddy?” Lucas said, shaking Will’s arm. Will started straight out of the armchair and wheeled on Lucas. “I’m fine!” he screamed, swatting at any attempts to touch him. “I’m fine. It’s just a movie. I’m fine.” he said.

 

“Okay man, I get it." Lucas raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "You’re fine. You’re the only one who is though. That majorly freaked me out.” Lucas said. Will scanned around the rest of the room, and his breathing slowed to something nearing normal.

 

“That… sucked.” Will said. A quiet chorus of agreement rippled through the room.

 

“Maybe we should call it a night, huh guys.” Mike said.

 

“No way! I am not going home, alone, to sleep after that!” Dustin yell/screeched.

 

Max was still in front of the TV, she’d pulled out offending cassette and placed it in its clam-shell case. “We should watch something else. You know… like a…”

 

“Palette cleanser.” Will piped up.

 

“Right! Something, I don’t know, lighter?” Max said. She started sorting through the pile of tapes in the TV stand. “Any requests?”

 

El made a noise. Mike translated, “El says Cinderella. I don’t know if I have any Disney tapes down here.”

 

“No cartoons, but we have Caddyshack!” Max announced, holding the tape triumphantly aloft.

 

“That’s my dad’s video. I’ve never watched it. Isn’t it about golf?” Mike asked skeptically. Dustin looked at Mike in shock. Lucas joined in.

 

“Seriously man?” Lucas asked.

 

 “You have Caddyshack _in your house_  and never watched it!” Dustin accused.

 

“And you all complain about my taste in movies. It has your favorite Ghostbuster in it for crying out loud!” Max yelled.

 

“Fine! Put it on, jeez.” Mike said, throwing his hands up.

 

“I need to rewind it, ugh.” Max said.

 

“Yeah, my dad never remembers to rewind tapes when he’s done with them.” Mike said, adjusting himself as El tentatively uncurled from her position.

 

Will, meanwhile, had taken the clam-shell for Alien from Max, and was staring at the back. “How did they know?” Will asked.

 

“What?” Mike asked.

 

“Ridley Scott and Dan O’Bannon and… H.R. Geiger. And all of these other people. How did they know all this stuff?” Will asked, sounding shaky. “The Demogorgon, the Shadow Monster, the Upside Down?”

 

“No, that's... No. They don’t know anything. All that stuff in the movie, that's just a coincidence.” Mike said.

 

“Yeah. They couldn’t know anything. That movie was made before there even was a gate.” Lucas said. “I guess some of that stuff was, kinda weirdly close to Upside Down stuff, but it can’t be because they actually know anything.”

 

“The monster had the same face.” El spoke up.

 

“As the demogorg-” Mike tried to ask.

 

“As the shadow monster.” Will said.

 

“Still, they can’t __know__ about that stuff. Its impossible.” Mike defended.

 

“Um. Maybe not __impossible__.” Dustin said.

 

Max, who had been doing her best to tune them out and get her head out of monster land, turned to him from her spot on the floor. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked, almost threateningly. Will stared at Dustin as though he’d been slapped across the face.

 

“Well, I, uh, I’ve been doing some research. About… you know… all of it.” Dustin admitted.

 

“You can’t be serious.” Mike deadpanned. “After everything we went through? After Dart?”

 

“This isn’t the same as Dart!” Dustin yelled.

 

“What about the government man? Remember how mad Hopper got about the fridge? We have to keep off the radar.” Lucas said sternly.

 

“Seriously, relax. It’s not like I’ve been digging around the tunnels or breaking into the lab. Just ordinary library books. I don’t even check them out most of the time.” Dustin said, raising his hands in a defensive, calming gesture.

 

“What can you find out about inter-dimensional monsters at the Hawkins Public Library?” Max asked, incredulous.

 

“More than you’d think actually. See, I started working from Dungeons and Dragons, since we’ve been using that as a reference for all the Upside Down stuff. I tried to find out where the monsters and things in the manuals came from. A lot from Lord of the Rings, which wasn’t much help.” Dustin said. “But some of the inspiration came from this writer named Lovecraft. He wrote a lot of stories about things that seemed really familiar.”

 

“They’re still just stories.” Mike said.

 

“Right. None of it was an exact match, anyway. I couldn’t find out much about his inspiration, so I started looking at the stuff the stories had in common. Mostly, New England and Indians, if you take monsters and lunatics out of the equation. So I started looking at the history of that area and stuff about Indians. Turns out a lot of Indians would use drugs and herbs to like, talk to spirits. Drugs for expanding the mind. Stuff people still use today.”

 

“You’re talking about MKUltra right?” Lucas asked.

 

“Drugs like…with my Mama?” El asked quietly.

 

“Exactly. And there are myths about all sorts of creatures, like skin-walkers, wendigos, chupacabras…” Dustin started, before being interrupted by Max.

 

“Those are like, Mexican barn vampires. This guy I skated with back home swore he saw one once. They’re just coyotes and stuff. Not from the Upside Down.” Max said.

 

“Maybe. The one he saw probably was. But these myths go way back. And not all of them are old either.” Dustin said.

 

“What, like Bigfoot? UFOs? You’re reaching dude.” Lucas said.

 

“No! Well, maybe, I haven’t been able to get much information on that, and the descriptions don’t really match, but Area 51 seems like…” Dustin said, looking into the distance and pondering.

 

“Dustin! Focus!” Mike shouted.

 

“Right. So I found out about this thing called the Jersey Devil. People see it a lot. Which, yeah, doesn’t mean much, but what’s interesting is not so far away on Long Island is this army base where people think they do secret experiments…” Dustin said.

 

“Just shut up Dustin! God, just… just shut up.” Will yelled as he turned and stomped his way into the bathroom, slamming the door. Everyone stared after him in shock. Mike looked to El,who had tears in her eyes, staring at Dustin, and gently grabbed her shoulder.

 

“Are you doing okay?” Mike asked. El wiped at her eyes and nodded. “I’m going to go see how he’s doing, okay?” El just smiled and nodded. Mike stood and left to follow Will. He knocked gently on the door, and after a moment of silence, was let in.

 

“Way to go.” Lucas said.

 

“I… I got excited. I didn’t mean to…” Dustin said, hurt.

 

“I don’t know what you thought would happen, he was already freaked out enough.” Max finished.

 

“Why…” El was clearly struggling to put her thoughts into words. “Why do you… look for more bad things?” She asked.

 

“No no no. That’s not what I’m… Look. I get freaked out too. This is how I... deal. I read. And I thought that maybe, I don’t know, I could figure something out some day.” Dustin said.

 

“Like what?” Lucas asked.

 

“I don’t know man! I’m fourteen years old and working out of a public library! I thought that some day I might make like a breakthrough, figure out some real science, change the world. So maybe all this shit that happened wasn’t just some accident made by assholes! El lost her childhood, Will still isn’t okay, Bob is dead, it shouldn’t be… just… it should all…” Dustin sounded desperate, on the verge of tears.

 

“Mean something?” Max finished. Dustin nodded.

 

“I mean, I guess I get that. That’s kinda what Jonathan and Nancy were after too.” Lucas said, thoughtfully.

 

“I’m sorry.” Dustin said slumping back into the couch. A few long, tense minutes passed in silence before El sat next to him. She hugged him.

 

“I understand.” She said. “You didn’t do it to hurt. Sometimes… we hurt by accident. I’ve said bad things by accident too.” Dustin nodded as they pulled apart.

 

“I understand too.” Will said, standing with Mike in the doorway. He was still a little pale, and his eyes were red, but he looked a bit better. Dustin opened his mouth to speak but Will raised a hand. “I could hear you. If that's what makes you feel better, keep doing it. I just… don’t want to hear about it, okay?” Dustin nodded, wiping his eyes on his sleeve a little. Will crammed into the couch with Dustin and Lucas. “We watching Caddyshack or what?”

 

“All rewound and ready to play.” Max announced.

 

“We’re still watching the golf movie?” Mike questioned/complained as he settled on the other couch with El.

 

“Trust me, you’re going to love it. Bill Murray is hilarious.” Max said, pushing play before none-to-gently forcing her way onto the couch next to Lucas.

 

“And Ted Knight? Genius.” Will said.

 

“If you say so. It’s my _dad’s_  movie guys. _My_ dad.” Mike said.

 

“Mike.” El said. He faced her, and she put her hand over his mouth. “Shush.” Mike pouted, but complied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally two things, and all they had in common was the gang accidentally traumatizing Will, but they were short and lacked any context, so I awkwardly welded them into whatever this is. Something I forgot to add last time, check out the song D&D by Stephen Lynch, it's on Youtube, I think that any ST fan will get a kick out of it.

**Author's Note:**

> Most chapters are going to be humorous(I hope) nonsense. I have no schedule planned for this, but I have a bunch written that just needs to be cleaned up, so there will be updates. Some chapters are a bit dark, but I'll warn if it gets too hairy.


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